9/15/18:
"Laurie-Suze, Ralph-Rich in MP, Chazz-Edgar in RP, Omar-Christian in Wayne, Nair-Heidt + 4 at PAC, W2 Final + 4 at C.G.!":
There were five official sessions of GTA Saturday Tennis: with the first one starting in the morning as two Singles Challenges Matches took place at Mountainside Park in Montclair. The first was Women's Singles featuring Laurie "L-Boogie" Boughton going up against "The Shade Shark" Suzanne Bujara (with Suzanne reporting) and the second was Men's Singles and part of the ongoing East-West Challenge series as "The Headhunter" Ralph Bernard took on "SWAT" Rich Liu (with both reporting). The day before, "Dominant" Dawn Peterson put it out to the league that she would not be able to host the session there as usual. That turned out to be for the best as some children's tennis group took over all the courts (even though they did not occupy all of them…they have a rule against "outside" adults being present when kids are there…I said "outside" because coaches and parents are allowed to be there).
The second session was in the early afternoon and also in Montclair, but it took place at Rand Park and it featured yet another EWC Singles Match as "The Legendary" Chazz Weldon faced "Eddie Money" Edgar Valencia (with Chazz reporting).
The third was an impromptu session at The Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne as "Stealth" Omar Santos was initially alone there just practicing his serve. As he was about to walk off the courts, he was called over by someone he had never met before. It led to them playing a full match (though they ended up playing a 10-Point Super Tiebreak in lieu of a full 3rd Set) and the official GTA Debut of a new player, Christian Danku.
At the next session (the fourth overall), something similar happened at The Park Ave. Courts in Nutley as "The Dark Knight" Dan Knitzer ended up playing with someone who had been part of the Nutley Meet-Up Group, but was not yet aware of the GTA. They only played a One-Setter, but that was enough for Rutul Patel to also make his official GTA Debut. And later in the evening at that same location, Arunraj "Air" Nair and Tom "Gotta Lotta" Heidt got together for the third EWC Singles Match of the day (as reported by Arun).
The fifth and final session of the day was the usual evening one at The Cedar Grove Courts and it featured the W2 Women's Doubles Tournament Final Match between the teams of "The Marathon Woman" Doinks Srinivasan/"The S Bomber" Genalin Capan and Natalia "Nitro" Sout/Laura "The Aura" Gawley (as reported by Gen). "Bravo" Brenda Jordan also reported results from that location.
So we first go to the two parks in Montclair, then to Wayne and Nutley before we end up at Cedar Grove in the evening! Suzanne will start things off in Mountainside Park before we move onto Rich and Ralph's dual report to close out that session.
The Mountainside Park Results:
2 out of 3 Sets Women's Challenge Match:
Laurie Boughton over Suzanne Bujara, 6-2, 6-1, to successfully defend her # 7 Rank in the Women's Division! Laurie: 2 Aces!
The News from Suze: Diane Raum, Laurie Boughton, and I had a rousing session of Canadian Doubles before the East-West Challenge Match between Rich Liu and Ralph Bernard took place (sorry I forgot the score, but it was a close match).
To maintain our competitive rankings, Laurie and I then decided to play. I congratulate Laurie on her win. It was a fun time with quite a few Deuce games. Few can match Laurie's drop shots, which got me every time.
Though the courts were busy, there appears to be a working water fountain, benches in the shade, and porta-potties.
FYI: It appears that the Chelsea Park Courts near the Allwood Library in Clifton are nearly complete. I was driving by with passengers, so I didn't inspect them.
Samara's Notes: I thank Suzanne for her very timely and comprehensive report. I also congratulate Laurie on an impressive victory.
EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):
Rich Liu over Ralph Bernard, 7-5, 6-4, to become the New # 15 Ranked Player in the Advanced Division while earning a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge Series! Ralph: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set!
The Rich Recap: Ralph and I met around 10am for our EWC Singles Match. We played from around 10:15 to 12pm. The match was grueling with countless Deuce games. In the 1st Set, Ralph took a 2-0 lead before I came back to win it at 7-5. There were many close and long Deuce games. In the 2nd Set, Ralph was up 3-0 before I gathered my mental composure and competed well, winning it at 6-4. I thoroughly enjoyed the competition as Ralph is a very solid player as advertised.
I also want to thank Laurie, Suzanne and Diane for helping to warm me up as I had just woken up and came straight to the courts. They were also very kind to offer their court to us. GTA camaraderie!
The Ralph Report: Rich is a solid player and fights for every point. I was not on my "A" game as I haven't played much due to tennis elbow (which is improving, but still there and not allowing me to hit at full power), but it was a good time had by all. We had a good amount of long rallies with plenty of running.
Laurie and the other ladies were nice enough to give up their court for us to play our match! There is an annoying development at those courts. They have children's lessons there and nobody is allowed to play on the other courts from like 10am to 4:30 for the rest of the season! It is some silly rule where adults and kids can't be on the courts at the same time. I think it is ridiculous because their parents are typically there as well as the people giving them the lessons. That leaves four courts just not being used all day…just a heads up.
Samara's Notes: I thank both for their very timely and detailed reporting. I also congratulate Rich on a very impressive, hard-fought victory…further proof of his improvement this season.
The Consequences: With this win, Liu tied up the EWC series at 2-2. But there were still two more EWC matches on the way later this day…and we go to the first of those two now!
The Rank Park Result:
EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):
Chazz Weldon over Edgar Valencia, 6-1, 6-2, to successfully defend his # 19 Rank in the Advanced Division while scoring a point for Team West in the East-West Challenge series! Edgar: 1 Ace!
All That Chazz: We played at Rand Park in Montclair and started a little after 1pm. The match lasted one hour and seven minutes. Edgar complained that the tennis court was too short and that caused him some errors.
Samara's Notes: I thank Chazz for his very timely reporting and congratulate him on a very impressive victory!
The Consequences: This win put Team West back in the lead, 3-2 in the EWC series!
Now we move from Montclair to Wayne.
2 out of 3 Sets Challenge Match:
Christian Danku over Omar Santos, 3-6, 7-5, 10-6 (STB)! Once they went to the Super Tiebreak, rank was no longer on the line. Omar: 1 Ace in the 2nd Set! Christian Danku makes his official GTA Debut as the New # 44 Ranked Player in the Intermediate Division.
The Stealth Report: I had been practicing my serve at the Nellis Drive Courts in Wayne (the Bubble is up already...had a chance to talk to Bill Bess). Just as I was getting ready to leave, Christian (I did not know him yet) called me over to see if I would be willing to hit with him. After hitting for a while, we decided to play a match. The reason we went to the Super Tiebreak was it was hot out and we were getting exhausted (plus I had to pick up my daughter from a day camp by 4pm). We played from 1:30 to 3:30.
Christian will be a good player in this league. I thought he should have my rank, but Frank later explained to me the rules about matches with Super Tiebreakers not being allowed to be for rank. He is definitely interested in playing more with us as he does not have any steady hitting partners.
Samara's Notes: While it is honorable for Omar to feel that way, the rules are the rules…for any rank (Singles or Doubles) to change hands in this league…a full 3rd Set must be played if the first two sets are split. But it does stand as a full match that at least allows Christian to go directly into the Intermediate Division (rather than first entering the Non-Competing Men's Division). I welcome him to the league. For the record, Santos was also willing to let "J-Rod" Joe Rodrigues take his rank for what occurred the night before in Cedar Grove…but Joe said to report it as two separate One-Setters as it had not been planned as a match…and Omar had just played a full match against "Kaptain" Keith Lewkowitz for the EWC series.
We now go from Wayne to Nutley.
The Park Ave. Courts Results:
Rutul Patel over Dan Knitzer, 6-1! No Aces. It was the official GTA Debut of Rutul Patel.
The TDK Replay: Got us another recruit! Rutul beat me with consistent ground strokes and a very nice serve. He's in our Nutley "whatsapp" Meet-Up group, but he didn't get your emails so I figured I'd formally introduce you guys!
Samara's Notes: I thank Dan for his recruiting and also welcome Rutul to the league.
EWC Singles Match (2 out of 3 Sets):
Arunraj Nair over Tom Heidt, 6-2, 6-3, as both players entered the Intermediate Division as the New # 45 and # 46 Ranked Players as Arunraj earned a point for Team East in the East-West Challenge series! Arun: 4 Aces; and Tom: 1 Ace!
The Arun Rundown: The match was scheduled for 7pm. I reached the courts around 6:30. When I reached the courts, Tom was already present, practicing with Laurie. Tom identified me, and welcomed me to the courts. We started the match soon after a short warm-up.
I was able to get to a lead of 3-0 quickly, but Tom came back strongly resulting in it being 4-2. I went on to win the set at 6-2. Tom had the lead in 2nd Set and at one point he was leading 2-1. Tom was serving well and had better control over his shorts compared to me. I reduced my unforced errors and I was able to take the lead at 4-2. Tom fought hard in the seventh game (ending up in 7 Deuces), but ultimately I was able to get over the line. I ended up winning the set at 6-3.
Tom is a great player and, more than that, he is a nice gentleman. He appreciated my shots and game overall. I felt like playing a friendly match and, with Laurie around, we had lot of fun and laughs. The score doesn't justify the effort Tom put in as we had 8 Deuce games and a lot of rallies. I would like to thank Tom for playing with me. I would also like to thank Laurie for cheering us on, picking up the balls and her sense of humor. After that, we had a Doubles One-Setter.
Arunraj Nair/Joe Renga over Tom Heidt/Laurie Boughton, 8-6! No Aces.
The Arun Rundown: We chose to win by two games rather than do the Tiebreak. It was a long and tight match.
Samara's Notes: I thank Arun for his timely and very comprehensive reporting. I also congratulate him on a solid victory.
The Consequences: With this win, Arun tied up the EWC series at 3-3!
We now move into the evening and head over to Cedar Grove.
The Cedar Grove Results:
W2 Final Match:
Natalia Sout/Laura Gawley over Doinks Srinivasan/Genalin Capan, 7-5, 6-3, to win the 2018 W2 Women's Doubles Tournament which makes them the New # 2 Ranked Team in the Women's Doubles Division! No Aces.
Gen's Notes: We played this match from 7:20 till 9pm. It was pretty awesome match with lots of highlight moments. The 1st Set was tight as it can be. We stayed on serve with a couple of exchanges of breaks. Early on in the set, Natalia was on serve in a game that went to multiple Deuces (at least 8 or possibly 10 Deuces!). We went back and forth and had our chances to break, but did not capitalize on them. Natalia eventually held in that game for 2-All. There was another exchange of breaks for 3-3. It was pretty much on serve from there up until 5-5. Then Nat/Laura got the break and held to close out the set at 7-5. The duration was 55 minutes.
In the 2nd Set, Nat/Laura jumped out to a 2-0 lead. It went to 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3 and 6-3. There were some really great rallies throughout the entire match. The net was not in our favor tonight as 3 or 4 points had shots that hit the top of net and just dropped on the other side that went in their favor. Also, our consistency dropped somewhat in the 2nd Set. The duration was 40 minutes.
Overall, everyone played well. Unfortunately, for Doinks and me, we just missed out on getting those big points when it counted. It was a hard-fought match. Congratulations to Natalia and Laura on their big "W" in the W2!
Samara's Notes: First and foremost, I thank Gen for her always timely and comprehensive reporting. I also applaud her combined effort with Doinks as it is obvious that they fought hard. I then congratulate the impressive victory…and overall tourney run made by Natalia and Laura. Normally, this victory would make the Sout/Gawley the new and next Top Contenders. But since Laura cannot clone herself, instead we have…
The Consequences: Since Gawley is currently one half of the GTA Women's Doubles Champions along with Sally Pillay, that obviously means Laura cannot be Natalia's partner in the earned title shot that Sout picked up here with this tournament victory. Instead, Natalia now has the right to choose any woman currently ranked in the GTA (that can be someone from either the Women's Division or the Non-Competing Women's Division) to be her partner in the GTA Women's Doubles Championship Match where they would then challenge Pillay/Gawley for their Titles.
We now go to Brenda for the balance of the scores from that session.
Senthil Kumar/Kris Srinivasan over Moka Pathan/Brenda Jordan, 6-3! No Aces.
Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan over Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout, 6-0! No Aces.
Kris Srinivasan/Natalia Sout leading Senthil Kumar/Brenda Jordan, 4-3 (Incomplete when the lights went out at 10pm)!
Samara's Notes: I thank Brenda for her very timely reporting. Wow! What a day and night of GTA action! The weekend got off to a hot start on Friday night and then Saturday kept the ball rolling all day long…leading to what promised to be an epic Sunday as well!
Sincerely,
Frank Samara
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